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Voinu (Slavic Light Spearmen)
|-|EB1= |-|EB2= EB1: Slavic Light Spearmen are fierce warriors that compensate for their lack of armour with large shields, wild bravery, a terrifying, cannibalistic reputation and, if led by a competent commander, astute of terrain and the support of missile infantry. In those conditions they can become a nightmare to most foes. EB2:These men are fierce warriors that compensate their lack of armour with wild bravery. If supported by missile troops, they can become a nightmare to most foes. Description EB1: Vojīnōs are fierce infantry spearmen who form the bulk of the armies of the Nerjōs (Neuri) and Budīnōs (Budini). They wear no armor, but their large, oval shields afford substantial protection and they are brave, wild warriors that make very tough opponents. In addition, they inhabit harsh terrain, forest, rivers and swamps, which is not suitable for cavalry warfare, but that they can use to their advantage. Therefore, their tactical doctrine was probably similar to that of their later descendants, the Central European Slavs, who lived and fought under similar conditions: the deployment of spearmen defended by big shields and backed by packs of skirmishers armed with sturdy bows. When in a favorable ground, the wild courage of these tribesmen and their terrifying reputation (the claims of their being cannibals appear to have had a solid basis) are added to the picture, the resulting combination is one than can prove very difficult to defeat. Historically, Herodotos wrote about the Neuri and Budini and placed them as northern neighbours of the European Scythians. Nowadays, many historians think they occupied the swamps and forests of Pripyat and the upper Dnieper and associate them with advanced archeological cultures of the area. Features of those cultures are the use of iron weapons and a substantial influence from their southern Scythian neighbours. Some scholars consider the Farmer Scythians to be the earliest known ancestors of the Proto-Slavs. Their warrior class might have been known by the Proto-Slavic term for 'Warriors' (*Vojīnōs) derived from the same IE root (*uei-) as "drive" and "strong." In any case, they were fierce and wild opponents and cannibalism was apparently not foreign to them. Markings of teeth on human bones have been found in excavations and Herodotos wrote of the Androphagoi, the man-eaters. They are possibly the basis of the evil werewolves, man-eating wolf-people of later Slavic legend. In the historical past, whoever fought those tribes knew what terrible fate would befall them if they lost. EB2: These men are fierce spearmen, who form the bulk of the armies in the forest steppe. They wear no armour, but their shields afford substantial protection and they are brave, wild warriors that make very tough opponents. In addition, they inhabit harsh terrain, forest, rivers and swamps, which is not suitable for cavalry warfare, but that they can use to their advantage. Therefore, their tactical doctrine was probably similar to that of their later descendants, the Central European Slavs, who lived and fought under similar conditions: the deployment of spearmen defended by big shields and backed by packs of skirmishers armed with sturdy bows. When in a favorable ground, the wild courage of these tribesmen can prove very difficult to defeat. Historically the people of the forest steppe were a heterogeneous group of closely related and mutually intelligeable dialects, which could be termed proto-Slavic. However being hemmed in by other ethnicities, exercising strong cultural influences, did not allow the people of the forest steppe to reach a mature and distinct ethnogenesis. The greatest influence came from the Skytho-Sauromatian nomads roaming the steppe, who sometimes pushed even beyond the Vistula River during raids. As confederal leaders the nomads had a considerable impact on the locals, during a lasting coexistence for about a millennium. This process synthesised core concepts and ideas from religion to everyday life. Around the 4th century BC, roughly the middle phase of said coexistence, these locals appeared to be so similar to the Skuda, that Herodotos recorded them as Skythian farmers. Throughout this time contacts with Volga Finnic people had taken place as well, namely with the people known as Budinjoi and Neurjoi. It is possible that from them, and even from Mediterranean captives taken by the Skuda and brought to the forest steppe, that the locals learned to build wooden fortifications. A cultural aspect that became a trademark of the forest steppe, giving rise to the enclosures known as Gordah. The most famous of them Gelonos was a massive center of workshops, producing metalware for the Skythian protectors of the region. Notoriously burnt by Darayavahush I of Pars in 513 BC and was later destroyed in the early 3rd century BC by the Sauromatæ. Another important factor in the formation of the proto-Slavic ethnos was the advent of Germanic influenced communities from the Baltic region. These contacts started already during the Hellenistic period, but the most enduring influence came from the Gothic stratum that installed itself from the 3rd century AD as the new political power in the forest steppe and the Pontic steppe. Still the catalyst for the Slavic ethnogenesis once again came from the steppe. Indeed Sauromatian and Alanic clans migrating from the Volga and Ural basins joined the people of the forest steppe from the 2nd century AD onwards, establishing new groups. However this time the nomads themselves were too few to impose their own language and the local tongue was adopted. Indeed already among the Iwzagtæ federated in Britannia are examples for the use of a Slavic language as the native tongue. These emerging groups, known to Hellenic sources as Antes, Stauanoi, Souovenoi and Serboi would within few centuries moved into the Balkan Peninsula and gave rise to an independent Slavic cultural group. Usage These light spearmen excel in pure offense, their powerful charge and their ability to terrify infantry can make them effective if the enemy is close to rout and can be used as an equivalent to a cavalry charge. They are also quite capable of defeating light or medium cavalry and since they are recruited in regions in which nomadic factions are near, they are useful in attacking nomadic settlements. and they are also quite useful to nomadic factions as well, having a strong spearmen unit to attack other nomadic settlements. Their low armor however makes them very vulnerable to any attack from missile units or medium or heavy infantry. In Europa Barbarorum 2, they have lost their ability to terrify infantry but are still the same good spear unit that can be recruited by either the Sauromatae, the Kimmeros Bosporos, or the Lougiones. Category:Units Category:Bosporan Category:Sauromatae Category:Lugia Category:Eleutheroi